The post below is sponsored by TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants. All opinions expressed belong to me.

If you’ve followed me awhile, you may know that one of my favorite brands is MOD Pizza. Not only do I love their amazing individual pizzas, but I love how gracious they are about giving back — or “Spreading MODness” as they call it — to the communities where they have locations.

The latest promotion from MOD is an awesome one, and just another great excuse to visit the fast casual chain, which is locally owned by Michigan-based TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants {TSFR}.

October is National Pizza Month, and TSFR MOD locations will be launching its “Pizza of the Week” campaign. Throughout the month, all MOD Pizza locations in Michigan will donate $1 from every Mod-sized specialty pizza sold to a designated charity partner that is making an impact in their community. Each selected charity created their own pizza to be featured on the menu at TSFR’s 11 MOD Pizza locations.

The schedule for “Pizza of the Week” is as follows:

October 1-7: Grace Centers of Hope

Ann Marie LaFlamme, anchor at WXYZ, will kick off the campaign with her pizza, aptly named “The LaFlamme.”The pizza features a garlic rub, red sauce, fresh basil, Mama Lil’s Sweet Hot Peppers, mozzarella cheese and a sri-rancha finishing sauce. Her pizza will benefit Grace Centers of Hope, a faith-based organization that provides residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation services to the Southeast Michigan community.

October 8-14: Fleece and Thank You

Fleece and Thank You is a Novi-based charity specializing in making fleece blankets and delivering them to children in hospitals all around Michigan and Northern Ohio. They have created “The Fleezza,” which features red sauce, oregano, green pepper, pepperoni, chicken, bacon, mozzarella, parmesan cheese and a BBQ swirl finishing sauce.

October 15-21: New Day Foundation for Families

New Day Foundation for Families is a Rochester-based organization that provides financial and emotional support to individuals and families impacted by cancer. Their pizza, named “New Day Way,” features red sauce, mozzarella, chicken, spinach, mushroom, tomato and olives.

October 22-28: Scarlet’s Smile

Scarlet’s Smile is an organization named after an adorable 5-year-old little girl from Commerce Township who is fighting a battle with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). The organization is currently raising money for the construction of an all-inclusive playground to accommodate children with disabilities. The pizza, also called “Scarlet’s Smile,”includes red sauce and asiago, mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta and feta cheeses.

Additional funds will be raised for each charity through the sale of paper MOD Pizza shields, which will be available to purchase for $1.

I enjoyed each pizza for different reasons, but the Fleezza with the BBQ chicken was my favorite, followed by The Laflamme, which is pretty spicy, which I like. My little man really liked the Scarlet’s Smile one, and my mom enjoyed the New Day Way the most. They truly is a pizza for every person’s taste buds, but the real winner is the money that will be raised for some truly deserving nonprofits!!

There are MOD locations in the following Michigan cities: Livonia, Northville, Rochester Hills, Woodhaven, Brighton, Troy, Canton, Chesterfield and three in Shelby Township, with locations now underway in Southgate, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.

PRO TIP: Stop into MOD on Mondays where kids 12 and under can receive a Mini MOD pizza for FREE with the purchase of a MOD size pizza!

GIVEAWAY

To celebrate National Pizza Month and the pizza of the week campaign, I’m giving away a $25 gift card to MOD Pizza. Follow the prompts below to enter. Giveaway ends on October 9, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. EST. The winner will be notified by email and will have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen. Open to U.S. residents only.

The post below is sponsored by TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants. All opinions expressed belong to me.

Holiday shopping paired with numerous family gatherings this season means a lot of time on the road for many families…Not too mention being too drained and tired to cook after some road trips!

Thankfully, places like MOD are great for all ages and palates. It’s one of my family’s favorite spots to grab a bite to eat since we can all customize our own pizza…Oh, and my kids are obsessed with their cinnamon strips 😉

The holiday season, TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants {TSFR}, a Michigan-based family-owned restaurant group, and its Livonia, Woodhaven, Rochester Hills, Brighton and NorthvilleMOD Pizza restaurants, are teaming up with local organizations for its annual “Spreading MODness” campaign.

During Spreading MODness, the company and its restaurants will donate $1 for every pizza sold to locally-based organizations.

This year’s event will run from November 22-27, 2016.

What a great way to celebrate THANKSgiving week, right?! The following organizations will be the recipients of the funds raised at TSFR’s five MOD Pizza restaurants:

As we draw closer to the holidays, the thing that has been on my brain is KINDNESS. I’m grateful for socially responsible companies like MOD Pizza that give back — especially directly to the communities it serves. Thanks, MOD!

On a national level, MOD’s 182 stores have a goal to donate more than $250,000. This is the company’s fourth year of the campaign.

This post is sponsored by Fresh Thyme. All opinions and photos are mine.

Wednesday night I had the chance to check out the latest chain to hit metro Detroit: Fresh Thyme. If you aren’t familiar with the concept, think your local farmers market + Whole Foods with a dash of Trader Joe’s {and with TJ’s pricing}. Pretty much foodie heaven!

The company opened three new locations this week: Northville, Troy and Rochester Hills. There’s also a new location in East Lansing, and the company is scheduled to open a total of 60 stores by 2019.

For this visit, I went to the Northville location, and I have to say, I was impressed upon arrival. It’s farm-like exterior was so colorful and welcoming; it’s the type of store that just begs you to go inside.

The vibe inside was that of a bustling market, complete with colorful produce, artisan bread, a deli with fresh meat and more.

Some spots that instantly drew my attention was the make-your own pizza counter, sushi station, a beautiful salad bar, and fresh meat area with rows and rows of more than 12 handcrafted sausages and more. There also was plenty of all natural meat and fresh seafood, including grass-fed and organic options.

I also loved spotting all the blue “Local Favorite” and made in Michigan tags while walking the store, including quite a few products that were new to me. Fresh Thyme is passionate about making “local” a focus in all their stores.

A spot that made this store unique for me was the bulk area. There are more than 400 bins of natural and organic self-serve bulk items. Bulk items range from grains, granola, beans, snack items and more. I love that I could create my own trail mix or just grab a cup or two of random items like coconut flour, which I don’t use often and wouldn’t need an entire bag for.

As a coffee lover, I also enjoyed the locally roasted premium bulk coffee bean aisle. I could stand there and smell the fresh beans all day! They also had some samples available, which is always appreciated.

For my gluten-free friends, I saw TONS of options. In fact, there are more than 1,600 gluten-free products in every store. I saw lots of great treats like red velvet cupcakes and more, and the pricing seemed very reasonable.

The store even had a fun selection of green and organic baby toys and essentials, and organic baby food. I also found myself checking out the hundreds of natural and homeopathic health items the store offered. With an infant, I couldn’t believe the options they had to treat something like a cold without the harsh chemicals often found in mainstream medications. So great to have options!

I could have spent a ton of time walking through the natural health department too – everything from handcrafted soaps to essential oils, bottled greens and more were there.

Overall, I thought the store was great and a wonderful addition to the local shopping scene. I only hope Fresh Thyme will consider a Livingston County store a tad closer to me in the future 😀